The mayor of Kalamata Athanasios Vasilopoulos was hosted last week at parliament house by Labor MP and government whip in the upper house, Lee Tarlamis.
Mayor Vasilopoulos took part in various meetings and celebrations during his Melbourne visit, including the naming ceremony at Thornbury’s new Kalamata Place, as well as meetings with many of Melbourne’s Messinian community organisations.
The parliament house meeting was arranged in advance of the mayor’s visit with the aim of promoting understanding and expanding links between Melbourne and Kalamata and the surrounding region. Mr Tarlamis hosted the mayor on behalf of the Victorian government. Historian Jim Claven and former MP and toursim minister, John Pandazopooulos, who has close personal links to the region, also attended the meeting.
The meeting discussed the personal and historic bonds connecting Australia and Kalamata and its region. It was pointed out that a large proportion of Melbourne’s large Greek community hails from Kalamata and the Peloponnese.
The mayor encouraged the strengthening of economic tourism and social ties between Victoria and Kalamata and its region. He pointed to its many tourism attractions, including the historic sites of Kalamata Castle and Ancient Messinia as well as the nearby castles and bays of Methone and Pylos.
Kalamata is an important tourism destination, with its impressive waterfront, many hotels and other tourism infrastructure. The region is also famous for its primary produce, including the world famous Kalamata olives and oil, as well as its cuisine and distinctive culture.
Mr Tarlamis stressed that both Melbourne and Kalamata would benefit from increased tourism and economic links. He said that Greek migrants have helped transform Melbourne and Victoria economically, socially and culturally. The best of which is showcased each year with the annual Greek Community Antipodes Festival, held last weekend. Mr Tarlamis stressed that supporting the ongoing development of the Greek community is an important commitment of the Victorian government.
Mr Tarlamis also went on to explain that not only has he visited Greece and the Peloponnese on a number of occasions to strengthen the links between Greece and Australia but many of his colleagues have also taken part in such visits as well as the premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, continuing a tradition of our state’s political leadership.
The meeting also discussed the installation of the Battle of Kalamata waterfront commemorative plaque at Kalamata. The concept for this memorial was proposed by Jim Claven, and its creation funded by Melbourne’s Pammessinian Brotherhood Papaflessas. The plaque honours all those Allied troops – including Red Cliff’s Captain Albert Gray MC and New Zealander Sergeant Jack Hinton VC – who successfully defeated the first enemy attempt to capture Kalamata on 28th April 1941. The plaque is now with the municipality.
The discussion concerned the significance of the plaque and the event it commemorates. Historian Jim Claven had recently met with the mayor in Kalamata, explained the proposed Anzac Trail across Greece, from Lemnos through the mainland and on to Crete and the other islands connected to the Hellenic link to Anzac. He explained how Kalamata’s role in this link should be recognised, with benefits to veteran’s families, all interested in commemorative history and tourism. The proposed exact location for the plaque on the waterfront and the timing for its unveiling ceremony was also discussed.
All agreed that action needs to be taken to ensure that Peloponnese receives an increased share of Greece’s commemorative visitation. Mr Tarlamis explained that the Australian government is supporting the creation of a Remembrance Trail on Lemnos. The installation of new commemorative plaques across the Peloponnese as those proposed – at Kalamata, Corinth and the Mani, joining those already at Pylos and Methone – will hopefully assist in extending and increasing commemorative visitation to the region.
The mayor pointed out that the municipality takes such commemorations seriously and has held an annual service at the Greek Campaign Memorial in Kalamata in conjunction with the UK Brotherhood of Veterans of the Greek Campaign, for many years.
Mr Pandazopoulos and Mr Claven explained how they have both attended this service and believe that the new plaque will complement both the existing memorial and commemorative service.
Others attending the meeting included Steve Gotsis, President of Papaflessas along with other members of the Brotherhood, representatives of Melbourne’s Society of Kalamata, along with those of both the NSW and South Australian Pammessinian community organisations
As part of the meeting Mr Tarlamis led mayor Vasilopoulos on a tour of the Victorian parliament, pointing out previous MP’s of Hellenic heritage, including former speaker of the house Alex Andrianopoulos and fellow Peloponnesian, and the portrait in Queens Hall of former premier the Hon Stanley Argyle, a former medical officer who served on Lemnos during the Gallipoli campaign.
They also paid their respects at the Hellenic Anzac memorial and olive tree in the grounds of the parliament, only the second memorial installed there. Mr Claven who had written the words for the plaque, explained their significance to Mayor Vasilopoulos, with Mr Pandazopoulos translating.
The meeting concluded with the exchange of tokens of the friendship between Kalamata and Melbourne, Mr Tarlamis receiving a special commemorative medallion from Kalamata and Mr Vasilopoulos being given a copy of Jim Claven’s Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed, which tells the story of the beginning of the Hellenic link to Anzac.
In the same week Mr Tarlamis also held discussions with Mr Nikos Hardallas Greece’s Deputy Defence Minister and accompanied them both in a tour of Melbourne’s iconic shrine of remembrance – another of the cities many classically inspired architectural gems. They all also attended the naming ceremony for Kalamata Place in Thornbury held on the weekend, conducted by Papaflessas and the Municipality of Darebin. This ceremony was also attended by the family of Victorian WW2 soldier Private Syd Grant who served in the Greek campaign of 1941, including at Kalamata.
